KrystalLanguell.com

Website design for poet Krystal Languell

KrystalLanguell.com

Process Notes

Krystal Languell approached me for a simple author website design in time for the publication of her new book. She wanted something basic and useful with a non-busy background, and was draw to gray text paired with a lively accent color. After looking at a couple other sites she recommended as examples and inspiration, I brought our conversations back into the creation of a logo mark, as per my process, using that as a launching pad for the look and feel of the rest of the site.

I also took time to familiarize myself with Krystal’s writing, by reading some of her poetry online as well as a review of one of her books. What I got was “femme, fuck off, blunt” and a bit punk rock. The image I had in mind was of something (an active color, a paint stroke) cutting through, no nonsense, that had a physical texture.

I worked on two versions of the logo mark, one with spray paint and one with masking tape. I found that the spray paint, while nice theoretically, had a fuzziness counter to the rest of the feel I was trying to achieve. I also looked for a bold neon blue purple (to match her Be a Dead Girl book) and a pink purple that was not too feminine but more riotgrrl plus Jem and the Holograms. These became the site accents.

Krystal decided to go with the gray masking tape and bold sans (Oswald) for the logo. The final look is “minimal riotgrrl Jem.” Subdued, yet packing an unexpected, well-placed punch.